♡ amrev ♡

My little Polly can speak_ O teach her to pronounce my Name_ & kiss the little Angel for me_

John Laurens to James Laurens, 17 April 1772

Based on John's letter to Henry on 3 December 1774, and Henry's reply on 6 February 1775. Brutal stuff.

AmRev Tag Yourself Meme:

YKNOW THAT GIF OF THAT GUY WALKING INTO THE ROOM WITH PIZZA AND EVERYONE IS SCREAMING AND THERES A FIRE IN ONE CORNER AND SOMEONE IS BLEEDIGN OUT ON THE DAMN FLOOR?

WAIT HOLD ON

John Laurens dies early in the morning on 27 August 1782 in a skirmish on the Combahee River.

That same day, Brigadier General Mordecai Gist writes a report of the battle from Chehaw Neck to General Nathanael Greene, the commander of the Southern Department stationed at headquarters in Ashley Hill. Gist writes:

…the troops were put in motion to prevent their landing & support Col. Laurens, but before my arrival they effected a landing & brought him to action in the field, in which that brave & gallant Officer fell, much regretted & lamented.

Greene writes several letters about the action on 29 August, including ones to Governor John Mathews, George Washington, and to Congress. In his letter to Washington, he says:

Since I wrote your Excellency a day or two ago Lt Colo. Laurens has been killed in an Action on the Combahee River about fifty miles south of our Camp. […] Enclosed is a copy of Genl Gists Letter containing an account of the different operations. Colo. Laurens’s fall is glorious, but his fate is much to be lamented. Your Excellency has lost a valuable Aid de Camp, the Army a brave Officer, and the public a worthy and patriotic Citizen.

The letter reaches Washington at Verplanck’s Point on 18 October 1782. He replies:

The Death of Colo. Laurens I consider as a very heavy misfortune—not only as it affects the public at large—but particularly so to his family, and all his private friends & Connections, to whom his Amiable and usefull Character, had rendered him peculiarly dear.

The news reaches Philadelphia on or just before 1 October 1782. Arthur Lee writes to John Adams in Paris, telling him:

It is with sorrow, I inform you of the death of young Col: Laurens, who was killd lately in a skirmish with the British near Charles-town. He is as much a public as a private loss; and I am much afraid it will be an accumulation of misfortune on his most worthy Father too great for him to bear.

During the sitting of Congress on 2 October “was read a letter of Major General Greene, dated August 29, enclosing a report of Brigadier General M. Gist” - this would have included the news of Laurens’ death, after which it would have spread widely to the surrounding regions.

Alexander Hamilton in Albany hears the news from an unnamed source around 12 October 1782.

The news reaches Paris in early November. John Adams forwards the news to Henry and Harry Laurens in London, writing:

I know not how to mention the melancholy intelligence by this vessel which affects you so tenderly. I feel for you more than I can or ought to express. Our country has lost its most promising character in a manner, however, that was worthy of her cause.

John lived in London for two stretches of time - after first arriving in England in 1771-2, and then when he returned from Geneva in 1774.

During the first period, he lived with Henry in Chelsea and then Fludyer Street in Westminster - a street that ran parallel to Downing Street and led directly onto St James's Park. It doesn't exist anymore.

When John returned to start his studies at Middle Temple, he moved in with Charles Bicknell and his family in Chancery Lane. Historically, it was rare to give more than just the family and street names when directing post, but I wanted to see if I could track down the exact location of Bicknell's house - and I think I've come pretty close!

After a considerable amount of digging, I found an insurance record for Charles Bicknell, giving his address as "opposite the Rolls Tavern" on Chancery Lane. The 'Rolls Tavern' is actually the Crown and Rolls Tavern, a popular meeting place for lawyers and debating societies in the late 18th century.

But of course, that address is also hard to come by. Here we have two clues.

The first is that further digging into insurance records seems to indicate that the tavern was at number 9 Chancery Lane - though that's not incredibly helpful, because there are several number 9s on the street.

The second is that taverns and public houses were often named after significant nearby landmarks - and indeed, the area towards the southern end of Chancery Lane, where it meets Fleet Street, is part of the Liberty of the Rolls district, which included the Chapel of the Rolls, and the Rolls Court and Gardens (all named after the fact that the court rolls, or legal records, were kept in storage there).

If we put this together, we do in fact find a number 9 backing on the Rolls Court, which might well have been the location of the Crown and Rolls Tavern. As for what would count as "opposite", that narrows it down to a few homes on Horwood's Plan of London:

None of the original buildings from the time period survive, but...